New Beginning
by Indecisive Invalid
Summary: It's been a few years since Prussia's death, and Germany is finally starting to come to terms with it. Sequel to Totenbett; can be read as a standalone.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a few years since Prussia had passed on, and while he missed his big brother every day, Italy had been there for him and his daily visits to his brother's grave in the valley helped Germany relax at night. It had become a comforting ritual that Germany had easily slipped into his schedule, and the Italian that had taken up a semi-permanent residence there found the increasingly relaxed German to be a blessing. He started smiling more towards him than he ever did, and spoke in lighter, kinder tones. He yelled much less often and, because of that, Italy found himself much less clumsy around him.

Sometimes the Italian would accompany Germany, and sometimes others – specifically France and Spain, or Austria and Hungary – would come with them as well. Canada visited reasonably often as well, every time there was a world meeting or when he had some time off. And with each consecutive visit he always brought a red rose with him. Even in death, he remained faithful.

After a few years had passed and the entire hype of a nation dying had more or less trailed off, Germany kept his regular visits. It was on one of these visits that he heard a sound; the leaves ruffled in such a way that no wild animal could make them, and Germany would sense the presence of a human if there was one nearby.

He stood up from his perch next to his brother's grave and faced the rustling bushes, frowning. It was a Saturday evening, so the sun was low to the horizon and cast bleak shadows in the German's direction. He hesitated for a moment before taking one tentative step forward, then another, until he was in front of the bush and eyed it quizzically. Kneeling down, he slowly split the leaves until he came across something small and yellow squirming in the bushes, one small leg tangled around a thin branch. It blinked up at Germany with innocent, beady black eyes and chirped. It was a very pale light yellow and the feathers looked practically brand new. It appeared very small and helpless and Germany was struck by the sudden thought of Gilbird. How this small creature practically mirrored him.

He reached in and gently untangled the bird's leg, holding his hand out patiently for it to hop into, thanking the deities above for him being a nation; animals weren't scared of him as they would be normal humans.

The bird hopped into his hand without hesitation and chirped a thanks, ruffling its feathers before nestling into his hand. Biting his lip slightly, Germany reached out and stroked its back hesitantly with one finger. The baby bird was very, very soft.

Biting back a smile, he spoke softly to the bird.

"It's getting dark, so we'll find your mother in the morning." The bird blinked up at him curiously and chirped happily, hopping up on Germany's hand again and began dancing around and flapped its wings excitedly. The German watched it in curiosity as it hopped down off of his hand and took off in a random direction at a surprisingly quick speed, Germany jogging quietly after the bird.

It wasn't long before he started to think that maybe the bird was leading him on a wild goose chase; they were in the woods now, and as it was getting darker it was harder to navigate around the trees. More than once he stumbled on a root sticking out of the ground and almost ran the poor bird over.

When they finally stopped moving the bird peeped jovially, dashing through a bush and into a much smaller clearing from before. It hopped straight into the arms of a little boy, who giggled happily and hugged it tightly, legs kicking in glee.

Germany froze in place, half in and half out of the forest. The child wore a long, muddy white dress shirt that went all the way down to his ankles, and extremely pale skin that contrasted with the brilliant hue. His hair, which matched the shirt, was tangled and had small sticks poking out of it in places and looked eerily familiar. There was a large dab of mud on one cheek that he noted of when the child blinked up at him curiously.

His eyes were blood red, the same ruby that his brother had been. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, maybe he fell asleep. The dream felt incredibly real, then, though. And now that he thought about it, he'd been feeling a very weak tug on his heart that indicated the presence of another nation. The time spent living with Prussia had led him to ignore the feeling for a very long time.

However, this child was a mirror image of his elder brother. And the bird seemed like a much younger, practically newborn Gilbird.

The blonde nation took a step forward tentatively, waiting to see what the child would do. When all he did was coo quietly and tilt his head to the side while watching him, the German took that chance to step fully out of the clearing. His hair, too, was now hanging in his face and he was sure that there were a few leaves probably stuck in there. Well, he'd gone exploring, hadn't he?

The child giggled and put the bird down, allowing it to nestle into his hair. Another _oh so familiar_ action that the odd duo of man and bird used to do. He stood up on wobbling knees and stepped towards Germany, biting his tongue as he concentrated. After two steps forward, he fell backward and whined in frustration, trying again. He held onto the ground with his hands and shoved his butt in the air before standing up completely, wobbling slightly and then stepped forward again.

Fighting a smile, Germany closed the distance between him and the child and took his hands, helping him walk. The child whined at him and stomped his foot but accepted the help in the end, giggling as he and Germany reached the other end of the clearing and plopped back down the moment the bulky German let go of his hands, reaching up to him and smiling innocently.

Germany happily complied and lifted the child into his arms, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. The child was much quieter than Prussia had been, but they shared the same basic characteristics. Their physical appearances were identical, and if that earlier show proved anything it was that this child was just as stubborn as his older brother, though maybe a little more trusting.

And this child was definitely a nation – the instant their hands touched the pull had increased tenfold, a sign that there was definitely something not human about him.

He wasn't sure what the child could represent, but he knew one thing – he would not be left here and Germany was going to take care of him. It was his turn to be a big brother. And if this so happened to actually be a dream, he was going to milk it for every bit of happiness he could muster up.

By the time he got back home the small child had fallen asleep on his shoulder, breathing slow and even. More than once, Germany had to check his breathing from a fear that the small one could disappear at any given moment. Thankfully, the steady hum of his heartbeat and his deep, even breathing comforted him.

Italy was at the doorway, looking worried, but his face lit up as he spotted Germany in the distance and ran up to him to give him a hug. The German ended up pulling an awkward hold-the-baby-with-one-arm-while-hugging-the-clingy-Italian-with-the-other. Italy ended up being trapped with his face in Germany's armpit as he fretted and squirmed. Eventually he was let go after he let out a dramatic whine and a cry of 'you're smelly!'.

The instant Italy took notice of the sleeping child his excited babbling slowed and he stared at him quietly. He reached a hand out to brush his hair away, glancing up at Germany curiously.

"Is it...?" Germany shrugged and readjusted the child.

"I'm not sure. He's a nation, but he doesn't act the exact same." Italy hummed his understanding and peered back up at the infant who mumbled nonsensically in his sleep and turned his head around to bury his nose in Germany's neck. Italy had to repress the urge to coo and fetch a camera.

They entered the house and sat on the sofa, the toddler held securely in one of Germany's arms, still sleeping soundly and wrapped in a blanket. The two elder nations watched him with soft eyes as he slumbered on.

"So... what should we do, Germany?" The German pursed his lips.

"I'm... not sure. I want to take care of him, but I don't want the others to find out about him, either." Italy smiled and nodded.

"I know that if fratello died and I found him as a bambino, I'd want to keep him to myself too." Germany nodded mutely and cuddled the white-haired boy close.

"I think I'd like to try raising him. I'm not sure what he represents, but I refuse to leave him for other nations to find. He's _my_ brother." Italy smiled and nodded, scooting slightly closer to Germany and rested his head on his shoulder. The German either didn't notice or didn't care, too absorbed in watching the sleeping child.

"I'll help, si? I'll cook lots of good food, play with him, and buy him clothes! I'll be like a nanny~" Germany laughed quietly and nodded.

"And when he's older we can introduce him to a few more nations, those that were close to my brother." Italy smiled and agreed quickly. They continued to make plans for the future for the next couple of hours, until Italy was half-asleep and needed the support of Germany's arm to remain upright.

He brought both of them up to his bed (he gave up and let Italy sleep with him a long time ago) and set the child down first before sitting Italy down and helped him discard his shirt and gave him a clean nightshirt. He decided to forsake his pants, a light pink hue tinting his cheeks when the thought crossed his mind. Italy quickly clambered under the covers and curled up, almost immediately falling asleep. Germany quickly shed his suit jacket, tie, undershirt and pants, swapping them out for a pair of jogging pants and a wife beater, climbing in next to Italy and carefully unravelled the child from his cocoon of blankets, laying him down between him and Italy and held him close, drifting off to sleep with a smile on his face.

The next morning was chaos. Germany and Italy were forcefully awoken by the screaming of the toddler, who sat upright in bed, openly bawling. He was immediately hugged tightly by Italy, who held onto him tightly. The sudden move made him wail and thrash, accidentally hitting the Italian in the stomach and made him gasp for air, but the desired effect was made and he was released almost immediately.

Germany took his hands by the wrists and held onto them tightly, pulling the small albino away from Italy and held him tightly on his lap, grimacing as small heels attacked his shins. The child was far stronger than he seemed. He grumbled quietly and held onto him for what felt like hours until the child finally settled, staring down at his lap and sniffling.

The German slowly let go of his wrists and picked the child up, sitting him down so that he was in front of him and facing him. The child blinked up at him with teary red eyes and Germany could feel his heart melt. Prussia's kicked puppy look had that _same_ effect on him, even though his pity had lessened over time.

The child hiccupped and stood up, knees wobbling and he stumbled forward to wrap his arms around Germany's neck, openly sobbing again. Italy cooed in delight on the side, rubbing the toddler's back with a smile as he tore poor Germany's heart apart.

"You must be a hungry boy~"

The child blinked over at Italy, sniffling, and nodded before promptly hiding his face in Germany's shoulder. Smiling, Italy stood up, quickly followed by Germany (who had no choice but to carry the toddler) and the trio made their way downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Germany watched, bemused, as the toddler attacked his food, shoving small, cut up slices of sausage down his throat hungrily. There was very little fear of the child choking, seeing as Prussia never choked even if he ate like a pig. Italy ate his own pasta, kicking his feet and humming contentedly. Germany simply nursed a cup of coffee that had quickly grown cold.

As Italy collected the plates and went to wash them, Germany pulled the child down from his perch on top of a large stack of books and brought him to the den, sitting him down in front of the television and rummaged through the movie cabinet, face reddening in realisation that he had nothing other than rated R movies left behind by his brother and the odd recording of the cooking channel for Italy. But nothing appropriate for a small child, like Disney. He pulled away from the case and sighed. There were no shows for children on the TV either; Germany found that there was generally no need for an expensive plan so only kept what was necessary to please Italy, who was, for lack of a better term, technologically disinclined and could barely figure out to turn the television on.

The toddler blinked at Germany curiously and giggled, reaching out to him. He made a happy, yipping noise as he was picked up; that ultimately solved Germany's dilemma, gracing him with an idea that could very well serve two purposes. Entertainment, and the baby could earn some new friends at the same time. A playful whistle and not ten seconds later were the two of them bowled over by a pack of elated dogs. The child erupted into giggles as his face was bombard by wet, smooth tongues. Italy quickly ran in to see what was going on and was pulled into the group hug, 'veh'ing in surprise.

After the six of them tousled about for a few moments, the dogs sat down dutifully, tails wagging happily as they watched Germany expectantly. The large German couldn't help but crack a bit of a grin at their heart-warmingly familiar actions. It was like nothing had changed over the past few years.

"I think they want to go out for a walk~" Germany nodded his agreement.

"Maybe." Laughing, the toddler reached out to pull one of the dog's ears; it happened to be Aster. She flinched and whimpered, pawing at the child's hand. The small child squealed in surprise and pulled his hand away, sticking his tongue out at Aster and bounced on Germany's lap, pouting.

Italy laughed, beaming, and Germany quickly dumped the child down on him and knelt in front of Aster, scratching her ear and smiling slightly to make her feel better. The child whined loudly once Germany turned his back to him, kicking sharply from his position on Italy's lap.

Sighing, Germany turned back to him and picked him up easily, holding onto him with one arm while continuing to pet Aster with the other.

"Say sorry to Aster first." The child huffed and crossed his arms, turning his face into the crook of Germany's arm. Germany shrugged and started to set him down.

"If you're going to behave like that you can go away." Almost immediately, the child froze and blinked up at Germany with wide eyes, hiccupping. He held his hand out meekly and slowly stroked Aster's muzzle, sniffling. Aster snorted softly and reached forward, licking the child's cheek. He squeaked in surprise almost immediately and reached forward to try and lick Aster in return. With a soft chuckle, Germany pulled him back and pat his head awkwardly. He was rewarded with a brilliantly innocent smile for his trouble.

The small group continued to mingle until Italy brought up a good point: they couldn't call him 'child' forever. He'd need a name, a human name, considering they _still_ didn't know what he was supposed to represent yet. He'd also need a small bed, toys, and just generally things a child would need that were available nowadays.

Which was where Italy came in. Germany had a very vague, practically nonexistant memory of his distant childhood; he'd heard stories from Prussia, but he couldn't remember his time as a child himself. Italy had the luxury of remembering being a child and knowing what a child wants, even if he didn't talk about his childhood very often.

So they made plans; before anything was to be done, Germany wanted to give him a name. Otherwise he'd just become 'bambino' or 'kinder', or some other term of endearment. Germany wouldn't be able to bear it if he was known as _West_ or _Doitsu_, something he'd only recently gotten Italy to stop calling him. Nowadays it was more along the lines of _Luddy_, or something equally sweet and Italian sounding.

Just by looking at the child, Germany knew what he wanted to name him. He wouldn't be naming him as a replacement – oh god, not at all – but more as a tribute. To his big brother.

"I want his name to be Gilbert." It was sudden and blunt, and the statement took Italy by surprise, but there were no objections to the child's new name. He even clapped and cheered, and the small bird (who he supposed would have to become Gilbird now, true to tradition) chirped in agreement, tweeting around the room.

At that point, Italy and Germany went their separate ways. Italy took the truck out to the supermarket (the image of Italy driving such a burly thing always scared the German, but he never commented on it) and Germany went upstairs with Gilbert to give him a bath.

The child squawked in glee as his clothing was removed and he clung to the edge of the bathtub, staring down excitedly into the basin as it began to fill with warm water. Once it reached an age-appropriate height, Gilbert went in with a joyful _plop_. He cooed in delight and slapped the water, narrowly missing Gilbird who was paddling around on the water. Chirping in indignation, he quickly swam to the other end of the tub where the water was much calmer and less dangerous.

Germany's shirt was thoroughly soaked and he'd nearly gotten shampoo in Gilbert's eyes because of his squirming, but when he finally pulled the plug and wrapped the small albino in a fluffy white towel, an hour had gone by already. Unsurprisingly, Italy wasn't back; he hadn't even called. He was probably having the time of his life, shopping for a kid. All Ludwig _really_ had to worry about was the possibility that the Italian would dress poor Gilbert in fluffy dresses. He'd heard about Italy and Romano being subjugated to that by Austria and Spain as children.

He brought the child back into his room and glanced at his closet, deliberating. Gilbert cooed happily and nuzzled into the towel, kicking his legs in glee. Supressing a smile, he opened the door to his closet and haphazardly grabbed a dress shirt that would be entirely too large for Gilbert but would cover what would need to be covered. He slapped it onto the child and set him down on the bed, smiling faintly as Gilbert giggled and clapped excitedly, sitting up and bouncing in glee. He sat down beside him, pulling Gilbert back onto his lap and bounced him quietly.

Gilbert was nearly asleep on his lap when the phone rang shrilly, causing the child to jump in fright and glance around hysterically, trying to locate the source of the noise. Stifling a sigh, Germany held onto the mini nation-city-whatever-he-was tightly and urged him to calm down. When he didn't so much as quiet, Germany bounced him and reached for the phone, uttering a lazy greeting.

From the other end of the line, he could practically hear Austria cocking an elegant eyebrow.

"Babysitting?" Germany spluttered in surprise and coughed into his fist, entire face red. He shook his head stiffly, before realising that Austria couldn't exactly _see_ him, and then spoke up.

"W-What makes you think that?" Austria hummed curiously from the other line.

"It's not every day you hear screaming from the other end of the line when someone picks up the phone. Specifically _you._" Germany pursed his lips for a moment and deliberated on telling Austria. How would he react? It would warrant a visit, no doubt; Austria had known Prussia far longer than Germany himself did, and as a Germanic nation, he was technically family, as well. He also had experience in raising children, no matter how long ago it was. Knowing Austria, he would consider himself more qualified to care for the child.

"Well, there is a child here, y-yes, but… I'm not _babysitting_ him or anything." Austria's disbelieving hum from the other end made him cringe. He obviously wasn't getting away that easily. Gilbert whined nervously in his ear and squirmed restlessly, eyeing the phone in blatant fear. He wasn't used to the noise, and he didn't recognise the voice the emanated from it.

"… Then you don't mind if Hungary and I come for a visit, then? Just to see how you and Italy are doing?" Germany shook his head quietly.

"I'd rather you not. I mean… I have a lot of work to do and I'm very busy, a – and…" From the other end, Austria huffed impatiently.

"Nice try. If you aren't too busy to take care of a child then you aren't too busy to entertain us as well. We'll be there in a few hours." And like that, he hung up and the ring tone buzzed blandly in the broad German's ear. He pulled it away and stared at it, disbelieving. Austria and Hungary were coming over. Gilbert would have to meet them. He wasn't sure how the child would react – nor how Austria or Hungary were going to, either. The Magyar and Germanic nation were still quite sensitive over the albino's death, after all. Especially Hungary.

Trapped in his thoughts, Germany took no notice of the squirming Gilbert until the child had smacked the phone rather angrily out of his hand, spitting on it for good measure before huddling close to Germany, who gaped at the now slightly wet phone, and slowly turned his attention back to Gilbert. The child meant well, but he was easily upset and was both clingy and pouty. While it was adorably endearing, it was also starting to grate on the bulky German's already shot down nerves.

Heaving a sigh, he readjusted Gilbert and lay back down on the bed, deciding that he'd pick the discarded phone up later, not entirely caring that it may be broken by the time he'd decide to actually grab it. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, body relaxing almost instantly as Gilbert sat up and crawled onto Germany's chest, splaying out on it and closing his eyes as well. His earlier tantrum had taken what energy remained from that morning and he fell asleep almost instantly. Germany pet his hair absentmindedly until he himself fell asleep shortly after.

When Italy came home bordering two hours later to an eerily silent house, he nearly panicked. He dropped the bags he'd been carrying – all eight of them – and took the stairs two at a time, freezing when he found Ludwig and Gilbert sprawled out on the large German's bed. Blackie slept at the foot of the bed, while Aster and Berlitz were on either side of the two sleeping nations, curled up in Berlitz's case, and belly up in Aster's case. While humorous, the scene was also obscenely adorable. Italy pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flicked the camera on, moving around until he was able to hold the three dogs and two nations in the picture and snapped the shot. Blackie raised a metaphorical eyebrow to Italy, her eyes shining in hidden mirth as her tail began to wag lazily. The Italian pressed a finger to his lips and giggled quietly, snapping a few more photos from different angles before bounding downstairs in glee and began bringing the rest of the things in from the trunk of the truck.

* * *

Austria's eyebrows are quite elegant.

Dedicated to a certain wonderful reviewer. It is what spurned me to actually post this. :) I'm not a review beggar by any means, but they really do lift my spirits and make me feel like a fic is worth continuing. Even a follow is appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Austria frowned and knocked on the door, eager to get out of the rain that had suddenly begun pelting him and Hungary the moment their car crossed the border into Germany. Worse yet, he hadn't brought an umbrella with him and no one was answering. Though he was a stickler for manners, and he hesitated to do so, he was ready to pull out his own key and unlock the door when Italy himself swung it open, smiling innocently.

After taking a moment to observe the seemingly even-more-oblivious-than-usual Italian, Austria stepped past him, along with Hungary, and carefully took his shoes off, heading into the living room and sat down, glancing around curiously. Hungary sat down next to him and latched onto him, nuzzling him quietly. Austria pet her hair absently, glancing at Italy curiously. Said Italian was standing at the doorway, smiling at them as he answered the Austrian's unspoken question.

"Germany's upstairs taking a nap. I'll go wake him up." Austria pursed his lips.

"Hold on. Is that child still here?" Italy paused mid-step and turned around slowly, his smile slightly more strained than earlier.

"W-What child…?" Austria scoffed.

"When I called I could hear a screaming child in the background." Italy bit his lip and shook his head silently, quickly bounding upstairs. Both Austria and Hungary listened to his fading footsteps, glancing at one another in confusion, though Hungary's eyes held a subtle hint excitement in them.

Knocking on the door quietly, Italy peered into Germany's room and quietly manoeuvred through the throng of dogs that lay splayed out on the ground, their combined bodies practically covering the carpet that lay below Germany's bed. As he perched on the mattress, Italy observed Germany and Gilbert silently. They were both so at peace. During the first few months after Prussia's death, Germany would wake up almost nightly in a cold sweat, at times even delusional. Italy never wanted to see him like that. He figured that Gilbert may even be a good influence on the large German. Smiling faintly, he poked Germany's cheek lightly until the blonde stirred and swatted at it lazily, sitting up slightly and blinking up at him. Smiling, Italy waved slightly and whispered in order to not wake Gilbert – who was still on the German.

"Austria and Hungary are here. Should we bring Gilbert down with us? I think Austria already knows about there being a kid here…" Sighing heavily, Germany nodded.

"I'll go downstairs. If you can keep him asleep, put a sweater on him or wrap him in a blanket or something. Just to hide his hair." Italy nodded happily, tottering over to a bag in the corner of the room and pulled out a reasonably large and fluffy pullover from within one of the bags, stepping over to Gilbert and Germany and gently rolled the sweater up to slide it over the sleeping toddler's head in one fell swoop; he did so effortlessly, carefully weaving the child's arms through the sleeves of the sweater and pulled him out of Germany's arms slowly, letting Gilbert's head rest on his shoulder as he stood back up, bouncing the child slightly as Germany got to his feet as well and brushed his shirt off, tucking it in and brushing his hair back with his fingers; he took a deep breath before leaving the room. He started heading downstairs, Italy following behind dutifully with Gilbert.

Stepping into the living room, Germany was immediately assaulted with two pairs of curious eyes, widening slightly as Italy and Gilbert came into view, though the child's hair and face were covered. Hungary was on her feet in an instant, cooing over the sleeping child excitedly as she swivelled around, trying to catch a glimpse of the toddler's face. Germany stepped between her and Italy almost immediately as Austria stood on the side silently, observing Germany intently. He seemed far more languid and at ease than he had been since Prussia had died. Even his speech on the phone had been far less reserved and meek than it was.

Hungary flitted around Germany, who moved with her as she tried to catch a glimpse of little Gilbert. Eventually, Hungary gave up and hung her head in defeat, backing away to stand next to Austria, latching herself to the musician's arm, watching them sadly. Germany eyed her quietly.

"Please sit down, both of you." Austria hesitated for a moment before nodding silently, dragging Hungary towards one of the sofas and sat down, pulling her down as well. Italy and Germany took a seat on the sofa, Italy carefully readjusting Gilbert on his lap to keep the child's face hidden. All four of them were silent for a while, until Austria spoke up quietly.

"Is that child a nation?" Germany and Italy both paused, glancing at the child quietly. Italy smiled and shrugged good-naturedly while Germany glanced back at Austria and Hungary.

"… Maybe. I don't know." Italy hummed quietly and fixed the hood that covered Gilbert's face, brushing some of his hair away.

"Mm, Germany found him in the woods. He's just a little baby~" Austria glanced at Germany accusingly, as the blonde bit his lip slightly and glanced at Gilbert. Italy blinked up at Germany, smiling faintly.

"It might not be fair for them to not see him." Nodding slowly, Germany carefully pulled Gilbert out of Italy's arms and settled him into the crook of his arm, his other hand hovering over the hood with grim determination, his brows furrowed. Austria and Hungary watched the two of them expectantly.

Gilbert stirred before Germany had the chance to make his move and the toddler blinked up at him curiously, cooing in delight as he held his arms out for him. Stifling a smile, Germany pulled him upright and stood him up on his lap, watching him with a smile. The toddler giggled and leant forward, wrapping his arms around Germany's neck and smothered his face into it.

Italy smiled happily and tickled Gilbert's cheek, as Hungary and Austria watched with blank faces, though for entirely different reasons. Hungary was simply shocked that a child would act that way towards the bulky German and not be intimidated in the least, while Austria was staring at Germany, and how at ease the man seemed with the child attached to him somehow. It was quite a magnificent transformation.

Eventually, Hungary snapped out of her daze when Gilbert gave a soft gurgle and squealed in delight. The child was _beyond_ adorable.

Gilbert jumped from the sudden squeal and fell back down onto Germany's lap, starting to cry as he pressed his face against the German's shirt in search of a familiar comfort. Startled himself, Germany awkwardly rubbed circles into Gilbert's back and tried to calm him down, to no avail. Hungary stood there, frozen on the spot, looking entirely too guilty of making the child cry while Austria was shaking his head in exasperation. He came over for tea or something of the like, but was instead stuck with the news that Germany was playing surrogate mother.

Italy smiled slightly and took Gilbert from Germany, whose face was red in embarrassment. The toddler wailed and kicked, reaching back out to Germany as far as he could do, the rims around his eyes as red as his own pupils. Silently, Germany reached under the hood and stroked Gilbert's hair as Italy bounced him slightly. The toddler hiccupped but did little else, instead grabbed Germany's hand and tried to shove his finger into his mouth. The large German immediately pulled away from the sharp scratching of baby teeth; Austria couldn't help but smile at how much younger Germany seemed now. Gilbert pouted and kicked, reaching back out to Germany who took him hesitantly, sitting him down on his lap so that he was facing Austria and Hungary. All three regarded the other with curiosity. Gilbert tilted his head to one side slowly as Hungary got down on her knees and crawled over to the child, smiling. She still couldn't see him properly.

Germany's mutter of 'don't freak out' went mostly unheeded as he pulled the hood down. Austria and Hungary froze almost immediately as the shock of white hair was revealed. Austria glanced between Germany and Gilbert repeatedly, gaze finally falling on the elder German questioningly. Hungary was on her feet immediately and backed away, hands pressed to her mouth as her eyes watered. Germany watched her sadly as he spoke softly.

"… He's not Prussia. He _looks_ like him, but… he isn't. They're different." Italy nodded in agreement. Austria spoke up quietly, not believing his eyes.

"Is he a nation?" Germany nodded.

"We don't know what of, but it's impossible for him not to be." Hungary hiccupped and dropped to her knees, watching Gilbert in silence. Gilbert eyed her curiously and carefully slid off of Germany's lap, standing up to toddle over to her slowly. When he was almost there he tripped on his feet and fell forward, thankfully saved by Hungary sticking her arms out quickly to hold him.

"If he's not Prussia, then what's his name?" It was Italy this time who spoke up with a soft smile, interrupting Germany.

"Gilbert. He's named after Luddy's brother~" Hungary smiled weakly and glanced down at Gilbert, who was watching her with wide, curious eyes, before smiling widely and reached up to her, cooing in delight. Germany had to stifle a smile as Hungary picked him up and tossed him in the air and caught him again. Gilbert squealed in delight and giggled happily. The sight brought a smile to even Austria's face.

It was strange how the child didn't make him feel nostalgic. He looked like a small Prussia; hell, in a way, he acted like a _grown_ Prussia, but he wasn't. He wasn't even Gilbert of Prussia; he was Gilbert of… whatever he represented now. Hopefully it wasn't something small and microscopic. It could have a detrimental impact on the child's growth. A soft request from Germany shook him from his thoughts.

"You guys won't tell anyone about him, right? There are still dangers out there." Hungary paused in her playing with Gilbert and glanced at Germany, smiling faintly as she nuzzled the squirming child's cheek.

"Only if we can visit whenever we want. And I get to become an aunt." Italy laughed softly, 'vee'ing quietly.

"He already likes you!" He pointed at Gilbert to emphasize his point; the toddler was squirming around in Hungary's arms, laughing and flailing as she tickled his side. Germany smiled awkwardly and nodded. Hungary laughed softly, glancing down at Gilbert with a large grin on her face.

"Gilbert~ Can you say Auntie Eliza?" Gilbert blinked up at Hungary curiously, pausing, and tilted his head to the side. He gurgled and reached up, grasping her cheeks tightly and pulled. The Hungarian squeaked in surprise at the child's swift movement and chuckled awkwardly, pulling away from Gilbert as soon as she had the chance.

"H-He's, ah... he's cute. A little grabby, though." Germany couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly in amusement. Yes, Gilbert was a sweetheart (during the whole day he had known him up until this point), but his hands did tend to wander. Not in a French way, of course. More of a child's need to grab everything way.

Shortly afterwards, Gilbert was dumped into Austria's arms while Hungary and Italy fled to the kitchen to whip up a last minute meal for the five of them. Gilbert was being bounced on Roderich's lap gently, the toddler cooing in delight while he stuck his thumb in his mouth, watching Germany in an up and down fashion. He seemed pacified by moving around, at the very least.

A small while later and dinner was revealed and, much to the astonishment of Roderich and Elizaveta, the young Gilbert ate like a starving child. Deftly, napkins were retrieved and Gilbert was placed on Ludwig's lap to avoid staining the expensive and well taken care of couch.

After dinner, while Germany and Austria washed the dishes together, Italy hugged a sleepy Gilbert to his chest while chatting with Hungary. When the two Germanics returned, the five went upstairs to get Gilbert ready. They quickly deduced that his crib would be in Germany's room for now, until he was either larger or they got a baby monitor. Whichever came first.

The Germans, in their infinite handiness and understanding of manuals, assembled the crib pretty quickly. By the time Italy had decided on what colour blanket to use for Gilbert, the toddler had fallen asleep, nestled on Hungary. The brunette had one hand on his back to keep him from moving while the other carded through his golden hair. She let him go, albeit reluctantly, when Italy took the sleeping toddler from her to put into the bed. He flipped over and slumbered on without stirring.

In order to stop the two more enthusiastic occupants in the room, Germany quickly shut the lights off and more or less forced the three from the room. He quietly commanded one of his dogs to bark if the baby awoke before joining the chatter downstairs.

Hungary and Italy enthused together, while Austria still seemed grim. Germany pulled him aside to speak to him in private.

"We need to find out what he represents," He murmured. Germany nodded in affirmation before allowing the other to continue.

"We also need to figure out what to do about the others. His close friends, those that were at the wedding. It would be rude to keep them in the dark."

"It might be useful to have them on our side, but... Spain has no filter. I wouldn't want him telling everyone. Especially not with Russia there."

"What about France? Or America's brother?" The blonde shrugged.

"We'll see."

* * *

THIS TOOK ME SO LONG BECAUSE I HAD _NO IDEA_ WHAT TO DO WITH THIS. Legitimately no idea. I had the first 1900 words or so done in no time. Then I just didn't know what to do, haha. I need to plan this story out, I'm thinking... (So if anyone has any ideas feel free to drop them, I might even do drabbles or something for this).


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